This is my personal blog. I was Branch Secretary of Lambeth UNISON from 1992 to 2017 and a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of UNISON, the public service union (www.unison.org.uk) from 2003 to 2017.
I am Chair of Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party and of the Sussex Labour Representation Committee (LRC).
Neither the Labour Party nor UNISON is responsible for the contents of this personal blog. (Nor is my employer!)

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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

This is one of those blog
posts prepared without using UNISON resources, because it addresses the
important question of internal UNISON elections – to our National Executive
Council (NEC) – and so UNISON resources cannot be used to campaign in the
election (that can
get people into trouble!)

Diligent readers of this blog
will know that your blogger is standing
down after what will have been fourteen years on the NEC, having been given
time off for good behaviour. In my absence (and I honestly don’t think that this
is cause and effect) the rank and file left in the union probably has a good
chance of increasing the numbers on the NEC who stand for an effective,
campaigning and democratic trade union.

Supporters of all three of the
defeated candidates in the last General Secretary election (who between
themselves outpolled the successful incumbent) have come together with the
shared intention of challenging all those who supported the failing status quo
then and continue to do so now. The candidates seeking the necessary change in
UNISON are organising under the banner of the UNISONaction
Broad Left and the following statement of purpose;

UNISONaction Broad Left - What We Stand For

Over 400 conference delegates attended the
launch of the group at National UNISON Conference in June 2016.

The meeting was convened to discuss the lack of
effective leadership throughout UNISON at National level in most union
structures. UNISON is meant to be a lay led union but
currently the majority of the NEC, most service group national committees and
the national Labour Link Committee are dominated by the internal aims of some
national officers rather than led to the needs of UNISON members.

This lack of effective leadership is one of the
central factors behind the inability of the union to seriously challenge the
continued destruction of our public services, the cut in our real earnings of
over 25 % in the last 8 years and the escalating attacks on our pensions.

These issues are absolutely central to our
members.

Yet even where members voted for action on pay
and pensions that action was undermined by prevarication, delay and the
overwhelming desire of officers, supported by the majority of the national
leadership of our union, to end the disputes at the earliest opportunity rather
than seek real improvements for lay members.

That lack of real leadership has cost our
members dear.

Activists who seek to challenge this position
are increasingly threatened with individual disciplinary action to silence them
and warn off others.

Our UNISON democracy is circumvented in some
ways and grossly abused in other instances.

UNISONaction Broad Left believes this situation
cannot continue and the union needs to be cleaned up.

To do that means electing an alternative
leadership throughout our structures.

UNISONaction Broad Left is composed of a wide
range of activists of different views on some issues but who are working
together to bring about positive change in our union to benefit our members.

Wherever possible UNISONaction Broad Left will
seek to get agreed candidates to stand for all national lay posts in future
with the aim of electing a new national lay leadership to bring about the
changes needed.

We would welcome UNISON activists to join us and
we have contact groups in every area which you can be involved in.

All personal contact details will be
confidential and kept securely and clearly no UNISON resources will be used in
our activity

A national UNISONaction Broad Left site is being
developed to update activists and assist in work to replace the majority of our
national leadership.

If UNISON is to even try and fight to represent
our members interests there is no option but to change our national leadership
who year after year have failed our members.

Please consider joining us and playing your part
in building a more democratic stronger union and ensure we achieve a national
leadership capable of delivering that.

As things stand, it is reported that the following
candidates are seeking nomination in the following seats for the National
Executive Council elections;

UNISONaction
NEC Slates

Service Group

General

Female

Male

Reserved

<£9.42 per hour

Community

Kieran Grogan

Janet Bryan

-

Energy

-

-

-

Healthcare

Neil McAllister

Jordan Riviera

Roger Hutt

-

HE

Sandy Nichol

Kath Owen

-

-

Local Govnt

Paul Holmes,

Jane Doolan

Andrea Egan

Paul Gilroy

-

Police and Justice

Declan Clune (SE)

-

-

WET

John Jones

-

-

-

National Seats

Black Members

-

April Ashley

Hugo Pierre

Young Members

Josie Cartwright

-

-

-

National Disabled Seat

Roger Lewis (Gt London)

Pam Howard (NW)

Regional NEC Seats

General

Female

Male

Reserved

Eastern

Jonathan Dunning

Pauline (aka Polly) Smith

East Midlands

Gary Padgett

Gt London

Sonya Howard

Helen Davies

Sean Fox

Northern

Northern Ireland

North West

Tony Wilson

Evelyn Doyle

Karen Reissmann

Steven North

Natasha Hall

Scotland

tbc

tbc

tbc

South East

Jacqui Berry

Diana Leach

Dan Sartin

South West

Berny Parkes

Wales

Mia Hosling

Mark Evans

West Midlands

Dave Auger

Shazziah Rock

Yorks and Humberside

Greta Holmes

Sarah Littlewood

Adrian Kennett

Vicky Perrin

The online presence of the UNISONaction Broad Left is
expected soon and I will post a link here as soon as I can.

In the mean time, UNISON activists who want UNISON to be
the better trade union which it has the potential to be should try to get
appropriate candidates from the lists above nominated by their branch.

Each branch can nominate for candidates in their own
Region, and in any Service Group in which they have members, as well as making
nominations for the “national” constituencies for black members, disabled
members and young members.

UNISON resources may not be used for campaigning –
the election procedures are available online
on the UNISON website as is the nomination
form (also in word
format) (if you are nominating more candidates than can fit on one form you
need to complete and submit multiple forms).

Good luck to all those candidates seeking nomination in the
hope that they can help UNISON realise its potential!